This cop used to work with children who had suffered abuse and they have seen a lot over the course of their career.
As a child abuse detective, they have a unique perspective on what parents experience. That’s why they are here to offer their advice on we should (and should not) be allowing our children to do. For starters, sleepovers are out.
Kristi McVee now works as a child protection educator after spending a decade serving with the Western Australia Police. She says that sleepovers are of one of three different things “every parent should be mindful of” when it comes to protecting their little ones.
Kristi took to TikTok to call sleepovers a “no no,” especially for parents who have younger children that they need to look after.
“Children are vulnerable, they don’t always have the language or the skills or confidence to help themselves when or to get help if something happens,” she said in her video. According to her, sleepovers were “one of the number one things” that she saw children experiencing abuse at. “Definitely sleepovers are a no no until children get older,” she reiterates. She is also against the idea of allowing a child to have unfettered access to the internet.
“After the thousands of kids I’ve spoken to, the number of people I’ve heard from both on this app and the other apps I just think we need to remember that our children’s safety is our responsibility,” she says. “We can’t trust anyone. Even if nothing happened to you with that person as a child, unfortunately that doesn’t mean it won’t happen to your child.”
Internet access needs to be restricted for a number of reasons and Kristi is here to outline it all. “In my experience I saw children who were given unrestricted access … they were exposed to porn, they were groomed online,” she shares. “(It) actually impacts their mental health and impacts their future learning. It impacts their potential for abusing other children … there’s so many reasons why.”
Cutting them off entirely is not a realistic aspiration but we need to remain cognizant of what they are looking at online.
She is also against the idea of blindly trusting anyone with our children. To learn more about her tips and pointers, be sure to check out her very helpful video.
@tiktokcop81 3 things I would never do after being a child abuse detective #parents #parentsoftiktok #childsafety #police #detective #childabuseprevention #childsafety #empowerment
@tiktokcop81 Replying to @Natasha K part 2 – what age do you let your child have a sleepover? #parents #parentsoftiktok #childsafety #onlinesafety #empowerment #childabuseprevention
It is an absolute must-see for parents everywhere and needs to be shared far and wide!